A bill to change state ballot-access requirements for minor parties is expected to be voted on Wednesday in the Ohio House of Representatives.Ohio Statehouse Photo Archive/Ohio Channel

COLUMBUS, Ohio—The Ohio House of Representatives is set to vote Wednesday on legislation that would change rules governing minor parties’ access to election ballots.

A House panel waved forward Senate Bill 193 on Wednesday morning after softening some of the requirements for parties such as the Libertarians and the Greens to get and stay on the ballot in Ohio.

The legislation would relax vote thresholds for minor parties to be recognized by the state, and it would push back the deadline for parties to submit paperwork for a general election.

But minor parties in the state have fought the proposal, saying it would make it extremely difficult for them to run candidates in next year’s general election.

Before reporting the bill by an 8 to 5 vote, the House Policy and Legislative Oversight Committee voted to cut in half the number of petition signatures that would be needed for the state to recognize a minor party.

The legislation previously required minor parties to collect valid signatures equal to 1 percent of the vote in the previous presidential or gubernatorial election – which, for the 2012 presidential election, is about 56,000 signatures. The new threshold is one-half of 1 percent.

Under another amendment approved by the committee, minor parties would also only have to receive two percent of the vote in a presidential or gubernatorial election to continue to be recognized by the state for another four years. The bill previously set the threshold at three percent; current state law calls for five percent.

Finally, committee members removed an emergency clause the Senate previously attached to the bill. State Rep. Jim Buchy, a Greenville Republican, said it was removed because it didn’t have the 66 House votes needed to pass it.

Lawmakers didn't touch language that would push back the deadline for minor parties to submit qualification petitions from 120 days before primary election day to 125 days before the general election.

Sen. Bill Seitz, the Cincinnati Republican sponsoring the bill, has said the legislation is needed as state rules governing minor parties have been in limbo since a federal court held in 2006 that they were overly restrictive.

Since then, the state has continued to recognize four minor parties: the Libertarians, the Greens, the Constitution Party, and the Socialist Party.

During more than an hour of questioning by committee members on Tuesday, Seitz said the bill is intended to end the current “lawless” situation currently in place regarding the four parties.

He also said the changes would benefit minor parties by reducing current ballot-access requirements.

Officials with many minor parties, though, have denounced the timing of the bill, saying it’s meant to prevent them from participating in the 2014 midterm elections.

To run candidates next year, minor parties would only have a few months to collect the 56,000 or so signatures needed to regain recognition by the state. The parties also wouldn’t be able to hold primaries next spring.

Bob Hart, a Green who’s running for Congress against U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi, a Galena Republican, told the committee on Tuesday that he can “practically guarantee” that the legislation, as written, would be struck down in court.

Minor party officials urged lawmakers to delay implementing the bill until 2015 or later.

Responding to criticism of the bill, Seitz asserted that the bill is constitutional. While minor parties wouldn’t be able to hold a 2014 primary, he said, his bill instead allows them to submit candidates by petition to appear on the ballot.

Seitz also said the legislation is not meant to target minor parties or influence the gubernatorial race. He said he was working on the bill “long before” he heard the name Charlie Earl.

The senator said the measure should be passed quickly to allow minor parties as much time as possible to prepare for the 2014 elections.

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